Honstain



No. 626,232. Patented Iune 6, |899. G. T. HONSTAIN &. C. E. BIRD.

CUALIIIG STATION.

V (Application tiled. D c. 31, 1897.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet I.

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Patented lun'e, |899. G. T. HONSTAlN & C. E. BIRD.

coALmG STATION.

(Application led Dee. 31, 1897.) 2

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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(lo Ngel.)

.3 Znedse 6fm/7@ Patented June 6, |899.

G. T. HUNSTAIN CTE. BIRD.

GUALING STATION.

(Application filed Doe. 81, 1897.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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No. 626,232. Patented lune 6, |899.

G. T. HONSTAIN &. C. E. BIRD. COALING STATION.

(Application med me. a1, 1397.) "lo Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

i ".\A Y I Q z v. 74%/ f 5 i PE1 Tau wAsH UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE T. lI-ONSTAIN AND CHARLES E. BIRD, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNE--, SOTA; SAID BIRD ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD OF HIS RIGHT TO SAID HONS'IAIN.

COALING-STATION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 626,282, dated June 6l, 189.9.

Applicatior tiled December 31, 1897. Serial No. 665,118. (No model.)

To LU 11171/0771, t may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE T. HONSTAIN and CHARLES E. BIRD, citizens of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in (Scaling-Stations; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention has for its special object to provide an improved coaling-station,although the sameis capable of use for some other kinds of material.

To this end our invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described, and deiined in the claims.

In our improved station the coal is received from the cars into a pit or hopper located below the track,\is passed from' the receiving pit or hopper through suitable crushing-rollers to the foot of an elevator, is raised by the said elevator into a suitable elevated storage-bin, and from the storage-bin is delivered at will through an automatic weighing and loading device under the action of gravity into a car or other receptacle located below the same.

Our invention is illust-'rated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like notations refer to like parts throughout the several Views.

Figure l is a vertical cross-section through our improved station and the adjacent tracks, with some parts shown in elevation and others broken away. Fig. 2 is a view in the same plane as Fig. l, but showing the automatic weighing and loading mechanism on a larger scale, the full lines showing the parts as they appear when the bucket is being illed and the dotted lines showing the same as they appear when the bucket is being dumped. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 0031123 of Fig. 2 with some parts broken away. Fig. tis a plan view of the weighing mechanism detached. Fig. 5 is a view showing part of the building in side elevation with some portions broken away for illustrating the driving connections to the moving parts. Fig. G is a detail showing cert-ain portions of the elevator. Fig. 7

is av detail showing the guide forthe bucket latch-lever.

Thebuilding o is of suitable form for housing the coal or other material stored therein and for supporting the various mechanisms used in handling the same. As shown, the building aiords a car-shed ttf, a receiving pit or hopperoz, an elevator-trunk o3, and an elevated storage-bin o4. The car-shed o is, as shown, at the back of the building and is provided with a suitable track b for receiving the loadedcars ZJ in proper position to drop the coal therefrom into the receiving-hopper a2. At the front of the building is located the main or other track z for the locomotivetenders z or other cars or receptacles into which the coal is to be delivered from the station.

, From the receiving-hopper a2 the coal passes between a pair of toothed crushing-rollers c, by which the large lumps are crushed and rea duced to 'the proper size for handling by the elevator. From the crushing-rollers c the coal passes to the foot of the elevator-trunk a3 and becomes subject to the action of the elevator buckets c, by which .the same is elevated and delivered int-0 the storage-bin o4. The elevator-buckets c are pivoted between pairs of chains c2, as best shown in Fig. 6,`which pass over suitable sprockets c3, located on shafts c4 at the foot and head of the elevator-trunk. At the head of the elevator and on the deliv ery side of the same the chains c2 are subject to the action of guide-sprockets c5 on a shaft c6,

which deflect the chains to bring the buckets c' into dumping position over a chute c7, delivering to the storage-bin o4.

The crushing-rollers c and the parts of the elevator just noted may of course receive motion'from any suitable source through any suitable drive. As shown, the power is at'- forded from a gas-engine d, which has its driving-pulley d connected by belt d? to a pulley cl3 on a counter-shaft d4, from which all the other parts receive motion, as best shown in Fig. 5. Said counter-shaft d4 has a pulley d5 connected by belt d6 to a pulley (ZT on one of the crushing-rollers c. The crushing-rollers c have gear-wheels da, which engage with each other. The crushing-rollers IOS c are thusmade to turn toward each other, as shown by the arrows in Fig. l. The countershaft d4 has another pulley d, which is connected by a belt d10 with a pulley d, located on the bottom member of the elevator-shaft c4, for imparting motion to the moving parts with knife-edged trunnions 7L", which have of the elevator. n

By the mechanism so far described it is obvious that the coal from theloaded cars b maybe dropped into the receiving pit or hopper a2, that in passing from said receiving-pit a2 to the foot of the elevator-trun k a3 the coal will be subjected to the action of the crushin g-rollers c, thereby reducing the large lumps to proper size for handling by the elevator, and that by the elevator the coal will be raised and delivered into the storage-binl 0.4.

Attention will now be directed tothe mech- 1 brace 7L, as best shown 1n Fig. 4. At its rear end the scale-beam is provided with a oneanism :for weighing and delivering the coal froml the storage-bin into cars or other receptacles located below the same. The said storage-bin a has a hopper-like bottom, and the walls ot the hopper-outlet are stepped in the vertical plane to afford offset or staggered seats a5 in the vertical plane for cooperation with cut-off valvesfto close the outlet of vthe l hopper, as will later more fully appear. Said cut-oft valvesfare carried by hangers f', pivoted to the framework ofthe building. These hangers j" are ot proper shape and are properly disposed to embrace the hopper and clear the Walls ofthe same in their swinging action, and their pivots are so located that the said cut-oft' valves tend to close under the action of gravity. rl`he inner member of the cut-off valvesfis connected by links f2 to the upper armsf3 of a bell-crank leverffl. The lower arm f4 of this bell-crank lever'f3 f4 is in the form ot" a bail, as best shown in Fig. Lt, and is pivoted to a pair of bearing-brackets g', rising from the base-plate g ofthe scale. The outer member of the cut-ott valves fis connected by lin-ks f5 to the upper arm f6 of a bell-crankV lever f6 f7, which is pivoted at its elbow to a bearing-bracket g2, rising from said bed-plate g of the scale. The lower arm]LT ofthe bellcrank lever ffT overlaps the lower or bailarm f4 of the other bell-crank lever fsfl, as best shown in Fig. 2, and the downward movement of both of said bell-crank levers maybe limited by a common stop, shown as in the form-of a shoulder g3 on a standard g4, which rises from the scale bed-plate g. To the lower arm]7 of the bell-crank leverfl]c7 is attached a pull-rope or other flexible connection f8, which passes over suitable guide-sheaves fi to the exterior of the building into position to be conveniently reached by an operator for throwing the cut-ott valves finto their open position whenever so desired. The said eu toff valves f are automatically thrown into their closed position under the action of the weighing mechanism, which will now be described.

A suitable bucket 7L is provided below and outward its lcenter of gravity when loaded i remainder of their length. tions of the scale-beam arms h4 are bolted or with trunnions 7L', which rest in short links h2, carried by the'knife-edged bearings h3, which project from the outer arms h4 of the scale-beam. The scale-beam arms are properly disposed to afford clearance for the tilting action of the bucket h and are provided their bearingsr in the two brackets g', rising from the base-plate g of the scale. The scalebeam arms h4 converge to a point of junction rearward of the bearing-bracket g2 and then extend parallel to each other throughout the The parallel porriveted together through a suitable spacingblock 7L", as best shown in Fig. t. The outer portions of the scale-beam arms h4 are suitably spaeed apart and tied together by crossway spring-pawl hs, free to turn upward against its retract in g-spring hf), but constructed to interlock with the spacing-block 7L@ to limit its downward pivotal motion, as best shown in Fig. 2.

A scale-weight hw is adjustably mounted on a suitable lever h, which 4is pivoted to a bearing-bracket g5, rising` from the scale base-plate g, and this lever 7L is provided with a shoulder hw, adapted to overreach and engage with the spring-pawl h3 when the scale-beam is in its horizontal or weighing position, as shown in Figs. l and 2. A latch-leverh13 is pivoted to a bracket 7L, secured to the fixed structure, and said latchlever 7L extends forward through a guide-slot g in the standard g4 and is of hook shape at its outer end, adapting the same to engage over the rim of the bucket for holding the bucket in its upright or tilling position, as best shown in Fig. 2. The outer end of the latch-lever 71,13 is cam-shaped for permitting the bucket to act thereon with a camming action for causing the latch to engage With the bucket when the latter returns to its upright position. The guide slot g6 in the standard g4 holds the lateh-lever 7tlg in proper working position and limits the downward movement thereof in respect to the bucket when the bucket is lowered into its dumping position; The divergent parts of the scalebeam arms h4 underlie the lower or bail-like arm f4 of the bell-crank lever f3f4 for causing the scale-beam to operate both of the bellcrank levers f3 f4 and f6 f7 to throw the cutoit valves finto their closed position in the weighing action, as will presently lnore fully appear. A stop-bar g7limits the return motion of the scale-beam h4.

IOO

IIO

`bucket 7L begins to turn.

tion on the said beam or other part movable therewith whenthe said load reaches or eX- ceeds a predetermined weight.

Vhen the bucket h is in its dumping position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, its outer end overreaches the upper end of a lixed chute j), and a catch-lughls' is engaged by a spring-latch hl for holding the bucke-t in its dumping position. The spring-latch hw is connected by a branch cord or flexible connection h1T with the main pull-ropej18 for releasing the bucket from the latch h1 when the bucket is emptied. The fixed chute p cxtendsinto a pivoted chutep, which cooperates therewith when in its lowered position to direct the coal into the car a or other receptacle below the same, but which pivoted chute 29' may be turned up into an idle position, so

as to be out of the road of passing trains. The downward pivotal motion of the chute p is limited in any suitable way. As shown, the side walls of the chute p' are provided with lugs p2, which engage with a stop-rod p3, m

secured to the lixed structure. y

Having regard now to the action. of the above described weighing and loading devices, let it be assumed that all the parts are in the position bestl shown in Fig. 2 in full lines. In this position of the parts the cutoff valves fare in their open position, thereby permitting the coal to flow by gravity from the storage-bin a" into the bucket 7L. Whenever the predetermined weight is reached in the bucket h for which the scale is set to trip, the weightedtrip-leverh11 will be thrown backward by the scale-beam into its dotted-line position, as shown in Fig. 2, thereby permitting all the other parts to assume their dotted-line positions, as shown in the said view. At the initial part of the seale-beams'movement, after the release from the trip-lever 7L the long arm of the scale-beam will strike the lower or bail-like member fL of the bell-crank lever fsf", and thereby rock both of the bellcrank levers fsfL f f7 into their uppermost position, thereby causing the same to throw the cut-off valves f into their closed position. Meantime the bucket 7i is lowering on the short arms of the scale-beam, but remains upright until the latch-lever 7f3 strikes the bottom of the slot g in the standard g4. Vhen this occurs, the latch-lever 7t13 is intercepted, while the bucket continues to lower away from the latch. This affords time for completely closing the cut-off Valves f before the As quick as the bucket 7i has lowered sufficiently far to clear the latch-lever 7tlg it will instantly turn outward and downward, under the action of gravity, into its dumping position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, in virtue of the fact that its trunnions 7i are located below the center of gravity of the bucket, as hitherto described. Thesaidbucketbeinginitsdumping position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the same will be caught and held by the spring-latch hw until the latter is released by catch hw and thenthrow the cut-off valves f 7;

into their open position. Before the cut-olf valvesfcan thus be thrown into their open position by the operator, however, the bucket 7L will have returned to its upright position on the scale-beam and be relocked to the latchlever h13 and that the scale-beam will have returned to its normal or weighing position and be rengaged by the trip or weighted lever 71,11. The parts will then all again be in theirnornial or'weighin g position ready for the next action. These actions of filling the bucket and dumping the coal therefrom into the chutes which lead to the car may be repeated over and Vover again until the desired load is secured. The amount of load required to dump the bucket having been predetermined at the setting of the scale, it is of course obvious that it is an easy matter to keep track of the total weight of the load. matic rallying device might be arranged to cooperate with the weighing mechanism for keeping a record of the number of buckets of coal handled by the weighing mechanism.

It should perhaps be noted that while the cut-off valves fare so mounted that they tend If so desired, any suitable auto- IOO to close by gravity, the bell-crank levers f3f4 and f f7 are of such weight and so mounted that under the action of gravity they will hold the cut-off valvesfin their open position.

ln order to prevent any clogging of the coal in the outlet-hopper from the storage-bin ct, we provide means for agitating and loosening up any coal which may accumulate therein. For this purpose we have shown a pair of rock-shafts r, having short arms or tumblers o", which work through slots 'r2 in the walls of the hopper for loosening up the coal. The rock-shafts fr are provided with lever-arms r3, to which are attached divided sections r4 of a pull-rope T5, which passes over suitable guide-sheaves r6 to the exterior of the building within convenient reach of an operator for manipulating the same whenever so desired. By means of these agitators or clearing devices it is obvious that the clogging of the outlet from the storage-bin CL4. may be avoided.

The staggered relation of the cut-off valves fin the vertical plane prevents any bite therefrom on the chunks of coal in their closing action. Otherwise stated, said cut-off valves f will seldom strike the same chunks of coal at the same time, and when they do they will act thereon with a rolling or tilting action, thereby forcing the coal out of their paths. This constructiontherefore insures the required closing action of said cut-off valves f.

By actual usage we have demonstrated the efficiency of the mechanism herein disclosed for the purposes had in view. By actual test it. has been found lthat the automatic weighing and loading mechanism disclosed herein is reliable and quick in its action. Of course for this class of material precision or eXactf ness of weight to a line point of nicety is not required.

It will be understood, of course, that the ters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

l. In a weighing device, th-e combination with a scale-beam of a scale-weight arranged to normally resist the movement of said beam under the weight of its load, and to be'tripped out of action when said load has reached a predetermined weight, and a one-way pawl for permitting said scale-weight and scaleand cut-olf valve controlling the supply therebeam to resume normal relations, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a scale-beam haviu-ga dumping-bucket, of a scale-weight arranged tc normally resist the movement of filling position, and to be thrown completely said scale-beam under the weight of its load, and to be tripped out of action when said load has reached a predetermined weight, and a one-way pawl for permitting said scale weight and beam to resume normal relations, substantiallj.T as described.

3. The combination with the elevated storage-bin, of the cut-off valves f arranged as described, the scale-beam having the links suspending the dumping-bucket, as described, the. Weighted trip-lever and one-way pawl, for controlling the scale-beam, as described, the bucket latch-lever, operating as described,

the pair of oppositely-acting bell-crank levers, subject to the scale-beam, as described,

and the links from said bell-crank lever to said cut-eff valves, all for cooperation, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination With the scale-beam having the links h2 of the bucket pivoted to J said links below the buckets center of gravity,

the weighted trip-lever and pawl, controlling the scale-beam, the bucket latch-lever h13 and :the standard g4 having the slot g5 through which said latch-lever Works, substantially as and for the* purposes set forth.

5. The combination with the storage-bin and cut-off valves, of the scale-beam and bucket,

'the oppositely-acting and overlapped bellcrank levers with links to saidl valves and subject to said beam, for closing said cut-off valves, and a pull-rope applied to the overi lapping member of said bell-crank levers, for

throwing said valves in their open positions, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a scale-beam carrying a dumping-bucket, of a scale-weight arranged to act on said beam only while the beam and bucket are in a filling position and g to be thrown completely off from said scalebeam, under the initial movement of said Ibeam from the predetermined load, and a Ebucket-latch arranged to hold said bucket ,ffrom dumping until after said scale-weight has been thrown olf from said scale-beam, and then to permit the bucket todump, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a supply-hopper from, of a scale-beam carrying a dumping- ;bucket for receiving from said hopper, a `scale-weight arranged to act on said scalebeam only while the beam and bucket are in load, to el'iect the cut-off, and a bucket-latch arranged to hold said bucket from dumping until after said weight has been thrown from .i the scale-beam and the cut-off valves have been thrown into their closed position by said f beam, and then to permit the bucket to dump, 5 substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we afix our signa- 1 tures in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE T. HONSTAIN. CHARLES E. BIRD.

Vitnesses:

JAS. F. WILLIAMSON, Bnssm B. NELsoN. 

